York Town News
Town Hall open all week if fiscal 2008 budget passes; building talks continue
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - Bright and early on Saturday morning, Feb. 24, the seven members of the Budget Committee met to vote on the approximately $38 million in operating budget and debt service requests from the town and schools.After weeks of budget review, this was not the meeting where the committee members would cast their preference votes as a guide for voters at the May election, but instead focused on which funding requests to place on the ballot - and at what amount.
The overwhelming majority of the budget requests passed by a 7-0 margin, although a couple of line items did receive discussion and some - including the proposed $6 million Town Hall building project - were delayed until Tuesday, Feb. 27.
The voting on Feb. 24 began with the proposed fiscal 2008 York School Department budget, and while all of the school funding requests passed unanimously, the York High School athletic budget and a plan to implement full-day kindergarten received some discussion.
Assistant Superintendent Jim Amoroso explained that the York High School budget reflects increased costs for - and participation in - the athletic program, as well as new funding for the girls' varsity ice hockey program at $18,883.
"This would be required under federal law, but it's also very enthusiastically put forward by the high school," Amoroso said of the program, citing the strong interest in club programs currently in existence at the middle school and high school level.
Budget Committee member David Lincoln questioned the increase in athletic funding in recent years at York High School.
"When you add up all the minor amounts, it came up to some real money," Lincoln said, recommending a reduction of $90,000 from the York High School budget to flat-fund the cost of athletics.
Chairman Greg Orso noted the impact amounts to "14 cents on your tax bill," and added the girls' hockey program is a federal requirement to provide equal opportunity to all students. The boys' hockey team has been in existence for a long time, he said, pointing out that even with funding, the boys' team members pay $900 each year out-of-pocket to cover the cost of ice time.
Amoroso said there are more than 1,000 students participating in the athletic program and added that the budget came in below the funding recommendations of the town's Property Tax Task Force while including the athletic program.
Budget Committee member Nancy Eaton pointed out that the York High School budget is voted on as a whole, and there is no way to ensure a cut of $90,000 would come from funding for sports.
"They don't have to trade books for track shoes," Lincoln said, adding the funding increase for sports must be managed on a fiscal basis, not an emotional one.
He added it is not just about the schools and athletics, but in areas across the town and school budgets where participation fees should be considered for funding rather than tax dollars.
"I don't feel that there's any financial indiscretion going on," he said, adding, "… it's just the year-to-year increase. … My job is needs-based budgeting."
Orso pointed to increased costs with more participants and the climbing prices of insurance.
"We would be doing our children a disservice if we cut the athletic budget," he said.
Committee member Lin Napier also opposed cutting the budget.
"I just don't think we can nickel-and-dime this budget," she said. "… I know $90,000 is a great deal of money, but I do think the schools and the School Committee have made a real effort to cut costs, and that's my two cents."
The committee voted 6-1against Lincoln's motion to cut the funds and, subsequently, Lincoln voted with the remaining members of the board to unanimously place the entire York High School budget on the ballot in May.
On the issue of full-day kindergarten, the Budget Committee approved the funding to be included in the Village Elementary School budget, but members have suggested the School Department create a separate warrant article identifying the shift in positions and the costs associated with the program for voter approval in May.
Amoroso said that discussion will continue as the process moves forward, and noted that if the kindergarten program does not win voter support, two existing teaching and two educational technician positions being shifted from other grades will need to be cut from the current School Department staff.
The total school operating requests approved for the ballot came in at about $24.7 million.
On the capital side of the school equation, the Budget Committee voted unanimously to place a request for $200,000 for bleachers and a broadcast booth at the York High School football field and approximately $2.15 million for an addition to the high school for music instructional space on the ballot. All but $500,000 of those funds will come from existing accounts.
Looking to the municipal budget, the votes were similar, with approval of the vast majority of funding requests - including the use of overtime funds in the Town Clerk's Office to once again remain open to the public Mondays through Fridays.
"We will be open on Wednesdays," Town Manager Rob Yandow said of the budget plan as presented. "We will be open five days a week."
That news received a warm response from the majority of the committee members.
"The town clerk did an excellent job in using overtime to achieve what a lot of people wanted, open on Wednesdays," Lincoln said, referencing the years that Town Hall has been closed to the public on Wednesdays.
Committee member Rudy Freitag cast the one vote against the request, questioning why overtime is needed to keep the office open to the public all week.
A request for an additional staff member at the York Public Library was met with the opposite response from Lincoln, who said the library should use overtime in the way proposed for the clerk's office. The addition of the position would mean a 16 percent increase for the library's budget to $442,000, he said.
The request passed by a vote of 5-2, with Lincoln joined by Freitag in opposition.
Funding for a new community development director and public health program at Town Hall received unanimous support from the committee; however, a request to replace the harbor master's boat, which sunk more than a year ago, was met with questions and a request to have the Harbor Board clarify whether it has funds that could offset the cost.
Another of the items that received some discussion was a proposal to build sidewalks in the area of Moulton Lane and Woodbridge Road, as committee members questioned why portions of such a project should come forward without a town-wide plan for sidewalks.
In the end, the committee voted 4-3 to place the request on the ballot, with Michael Quinn, Eaton, Napier and Freitag in the affirmative and Greg Filias, Lincoln and Orso in opposition.
In a rare move and by a split vote, the committee voted to increase the overall municipal budget by a sum of $3,825 to pay $3,000 for a recording secretary and a total of $825 in annual stipends to be split between the seven Budget Committee members.
Supporters of the move explained the reason is not about the money, but an issue of equity, noting the School Committee and Board of Selectmen receive stipends for their service to the town.
Lincoln had recommended $3,000 for a secretary to keep an accurate archive of meetings and votes when Filias said the Budget Committee is just as valuable a town-elected committee as the other two boards and there should be no difference between them, which prompted Lincoln to amend his motion to $3,825.
Orso said he believes past Budget Committee members voted years ago not to accept stipends in an effort to keep the annual cost of the budget down.
"Why don't our selectmen and our School Committee follow that same suit?" Filias asked.
Quinn suggested letting the voters decide, and moved to put the question on the ballot, but said he will vote against its approval with his preference vote.
Eaton, Filias and Lincoln joined him in support of placing the request on the ballot, with Orso, Freitag and Napier in opposition
The total municipal operating budget approved for the ballot as of Saturday came in at just over $13.5 million.
Orso noted the remainder of the items to be discussed and voted on - including the $6 million Town Hall project proposed for land purchased last year on Long Sands Road - would be discussed on Tuesday. At that meeting, which was scheduled after press time, the Budget Committee was expected to receive a presentation on the proposed new municipal complex and to begin the public hearing process.
The preference votes will be cast at a future meeting, Orso said Saturday. The committee's next meetings are scheduled for Thursday evening at 6 p.m. and Saturday morning at 8 a.m. at the York Public Library.
See the March 7 edition of The Independent for the committee's
decisions and the latest on the fiscal 2008 budget review process.
